The Magic of Niche Marketing for Authors

What does a recipe for white cake have to do with selling a literary novel?

A lot, as it turns out, in the case of The School of Essential Ingredients, Erica Bauermeister's debut novel that was described in reviews as a seductively delicious tale of love, loss and redemption.

Bauermeister mastered the art of niche marketing for her book, and it proved to be an important component to her success. Smart authors like her realize that niche marketing is a highly effective use of their time and energy as they navigate the modern publishing landscape. Here's a look at what it is, how to do it and who has done it right.

Whether for Fiction or Non-Fiction, Niche Marketing Brings Results

“Niche marketing is identifying and reaching out directly to groups of potential readers," says Sandi Mendelson, who works for the mega literary public relations firm Hilsinger-Mendelson. The firm has orchestrated campaigns for Larry King, Tina Brown and many others. "It’s relationship building—and requires a personal commitment to an ongoing give-and-take conversation with your readers using venues like blogs, vlogs and newsletters as well as Skyping with book groups, specialized book tours and readings.”

It's also about finding an angle in your book, Bauermeister told me during a phone interview from her home in Seattle. Look for an element in the plot or characters "that could appeal to a whole new audience of readers who might never have heard of your book or thought about picking it up."

“It means really knowing your market and offering them a tangible take-away, or surprising, original special information they can use in their daily lives,” she says..

Identifying Potential Readers

Bauermeister targeted foodies and cooking students by offering recipes from her fictional characters, which she gave away in guest posts on blogs and at readings in culinary schools.

Her guest post titled Carl’s White Cake appeared on the blog Bookingmama and included enticing backstory details alongside the cake recipe. It can still be viewed on Bauermeister's own site.

“When I started niche marketing this way, my novel shot up the Indie Bestseller List and stayed there for six months,” Bauermeister says. "But it fell off the list when I stopped to work on my new book.”

This New York Times bestseller is told from the point of view of Enzo the dog, who observes the life of his master Denny, a race car driver. There’s a lot about race track culture and what it takes to be a champion, so Stein targets racing enthusiasts with special readings and promotional materials at NASCAR events and local fan meetings.

These two historical novels, written from an Islamic point of view, are finding a market among Muslim and Jewish audiences. Pasha is intimately familiar with both groups, as he was born in Pakistan but raised from the age of three in a mostly orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Community groups like the Progressive Jewish Alliance, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and others arrange for him to read at events like a recent fundraiser for the Islamic Domestic Harmony Foundation for abused women.

“I know I’m reaching people because I get both fan letters and hate mail," Pasha says. "Muslims either love the book or think I’m a traitor to my religion. Non-Muslims are either fascinated by hearing another perspective on history and religion—or they accuse me of being part of a terrorist plot to take over America.”

This is the fifth novel in a series featuring the old-fashioned country town of Lumby populated by "relentlessly quirky residents who remind us just how crazy normal life usually is."

Fraser interacts with readers on her extensive website's blog and chat room. She writes that readers make some great suggestions. "I jokingly posed the idea of buying an 18th-century grindstone to which I could put my nose when a deadline approached. Within hours, I had received a dozen emails from fans who had tracked down various grindstones for sale. The following weekend, we were hauling a stone back from Manchester, Vermont."

Blurring the lines between fiction and real life, Fraser has created something of a tourist destination out of her own homestead, “Lazy Goose Farm” in upstate New York, where by arrangement, fans can visit the gardens, red barns and organic farming that inspire the fictional town of Lumby. Online, reader fans can immerse themselves in Lazy Goose Farm and Lumby lore, and shop for branded merchandise, from coffee mugs and aprons, to paintings of Lumby created by Fraser's artist husband Art Poulin..

This groundbreaking book about girls and bullying in school was used as the basis for the hit movie "Mean Girls". Wiseman is also the author of a recent Young Adult novel Boys, Girls, & Other Hazardous Materials (Penguin.)

Wiseman targets teens facing serious issues via “Rosalind’s Inbox” on her website, where she responds to questions in a video (vlog) format. With her high visibility in the tween market, she also created her Girl World Book Tour targeting mothers and daughters, packed with interactive features, Q&A sessions and book signings.

With the subtitle A Computer Handbook for Technophobes, Late Bloomers, and the Kicking and Screaming, Stokes discovered an unexpectedly large and receptive market among older folks who’d never touched a computer before. She calls them “silver surfers,” and discovered they’re well organized and eager for help.

Stokes targets these “digital immigrants” at conferences like the 10,000-member Southwest Computer User Group in San Diego. On the other side of the country, the Florida Association of Computer User Groups invited her on their cruise to Cozumel and plans to issue a direct-mail campaign to its 20,000 members with a special offer for her book. Every time Stokes makes one of these appearances there are new bulk sales and big spikes on Amazon.

Have you identified your niche markets? And once you've got some ideas about target markets of potential readers, how will they find you and your book?

This approach takes creativity, perseverance, passion, and that very important personal touch, so authors who take this on with enthusiasm and energy will be the most effective. Each writer I interviewed for this post was deeply dedicated, feeling an enormous stake in the outcome. These missions are personal—and that makes all the difference.

In my 40+ years in book publishing, I’ve worked at Simon & Schuster, Bantam Books, Grove Press, and I founded Straight Arrow Books, the book division of Rolling Stone Magazine. I edited and published Toni Morrison (Bluest Eye), Hunter S. Thompson (Fear & Loathing on the Camp...